Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Japan to provide grant assistance of Rs 1.83 billion to Nepal

Japan has pledged grant assistance of Rs 1.83 billion to Nepal for the improvement of aviation safety facilities and school sector development programme.
Ambassador of Japan to Nepal Masashi Ogawa and finance secretary Lok Darshan Regmi signed and exchanged two separate sets of notes – one each for aviation safety and school sector development programme – today on behalf of their respective governments to this effect in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Nepal.
Deputy Prime Minister and finance minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara and the State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan Nobuo Kishi witnessed the signing ceremony, according to a statement issued by the Kathmandu-based Embassy of Japan.
"Under the first notes, the government of Japan is extending Rs 1.518 to the government of Nepal for the implementation of the Project for Improvement of Aviation Safety Facilities in major airports with the purpose of improving the safety and efficiency of air transport in Nepal,” the statement reads.
The largest assistance so far from Japan in the civil aviation sector will be used to implement the Project which will help improve safety at eight airports across Nepal, 5 short take-off and landing (STOL) airstrips, two regional airports and the only international airport Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA).
The Project will install a Localiser (LOC) with Terminal Distance Measuring Equipment (T-DME) at Tribhuvan International Airport – which provides horizontal guidance to aircraft during the landing approach – and install VHF Omni-directional Range/Distance Measuring Equipment (VOR/DME) at Chadragadhi and Dhangadhi Airports, for the improvement of aviation safety facilities in Nepal.
Likewise, it will install VOR/DME Test Rack at the Navigation Aid Maintenance Section at Sinamangal, Kathmandu; supply and replace equipment to enhance capacity at the Civil Aviation Academy, Sanothimi, and install other necessary equipment like Runway Threshold Identification Lights, Runway Threshold and End Lights, Runway Edge Lights, and Solar Power Supply Systems at Lukla, Jomsom, Jumla, Rara and Simikot Airports, based on the plan/design envisage by this Project, it adds.
"After the completion of the project, it is expected that the number of flights that can land with precision by using the LOC at TIA – the only airport of the country – will be increased; the number of flights that can fly to the designated airports by utilising VOR/DME will be increased, and the runway usability factor for big aircrafts at TIA will be improved,” the statement reads, adding, "As a result of this project, aviation safety will be significantly enhanced at the eight selected airports."
According to Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) director general Sanjiv Gautam said that the three-year project would begin in 2017.
At the same function, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Nepal chief Jun Sakuma and joint secretary at the Finance Ministry and coordinator of the International Economic Cooperation and Coordination Division Baikuntha Aryal also signed the grant agreements for smooth implementation of the projects.
In March 2013, the JICA had provided Rs 906 million in grant to install two new radars at TIA and Bhatte Danda in Lalitpur to the south of the airport. The installation of second generation Monopulse Secondary Surveillance Radar (MSSR) systems at TIA and Bhatte Danda under a TIA modernisation project, which is expected to make Nepali skies safer, has been completed. The radar is planned to come into operation by November after tests are completed.
The MSSR will replace the existing airport surveillance/secondary surveillance radar system to enhance and strengthen the existing surveillance system installed under the Japanese official development assistance (ODA) extended in 1994.
Likewise, Rs 313 million would be spent for the implementation of the School Sector Development Programme (SSDP), the statement further adds.